Thompson recently told US chat show host Craig Ferguson that the publisher had approached her about writing a new addition to the series, explaining: 'They asked me to write a new story, so I'm going to take him to Scotland.'

Speaking to the BBC News website, Frederick Warne head of publicity Jennifer Cooper commented: 'We are currently in talks with Emma Thompson regarding her writing a Peter Rabbit story to commemorate 110 years of Peter Rabbit in 2012.'